“You’re a Healthy Young Woman or Whatever”: Identity Management, Young Women, and Chronic Illness

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 20. Patient Experiences and Diagnostic Processes I

Abstract

Although many assume that chronic illness is reserved for those aging into their condition(s), there is a rising population of young people who receive diagnoses early in life and then must grapple with the prospect of illness for years to come, if not the rest of their lives. Due to wide-held beliefs about both their age and gender, young women in particular struggle to be diagnosed and get treatment for chronic illness. This research study draws on data from twenty-one semi-structured, in-depth interviews with young women who self-identify as having a chronic illness. The struggle to obtain medical certainty and social validation has led these women to develop strategies for dealing with both the physiological and social implications of their chronic illness, as gaps in medical knowledge force them to rely on illness management strategies. Additionally, internalized ableism compounded by lack of medical certainty lead to women’s self-reliance in coping both with symptoms and with management of chronic illness. Ultimately, their youth and life circumstances are crucial in shaping their illness experiences and identity management as they influence not only societal expectations of early adulthood, but also the structural and geographic realities of entering early adulthood with chronic illness/invisible disability.

Author

• Dunahay Pereyra, University of Connecticut